Top Interview Questions to Ask a Caregiver

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Taking care of a loved one can be hard work. When looking to hire a caregiver, families should consider experience, credentials, licensing, references and personality.

It can be difficult to determine how someone will care for your loved one, but studies have shown that a good interview can predict job performance.

When interviewing a caregiver, start with general questions to get a sense of who the caregiver is, then gradually dive into experience and exploring different situations. A variety of questions will allow you to get a well-rounded view of the candidate.

At Iora, our teams work closely with caregivers every day, so below we have provided some of the top interview questions you should ask when hiring a new caregiver.

Consider asking questions from each of the four areas below: Skills, Situations Employee and Personality.

Skills

What credentials or licenses do you have?

Do you have reliable transportation?

Tell me about your level of experience working with seniors and [insert situation].

What do you believe is the most important skill for a caregiver to have? Tell me about a time when you’ve demonstrated this skill, as a caregiver or in another line of work.

Do you know to cook according to special health requirements?

What challenges have you experienced while working with seniors before? What did you do to overcome these challenges?

Are you comfortable performing care/hygiene tasks for seniors?

Is there anything in the job description you are uncomfortable doing?

Exploring Situations

If my loved one refused to [take a shower, eat their meal, go to the bathroom, etc.], how would you deal with the situation?

What would you do if a senior didn’t want to take their medication?

How would you react if my loved one began to shout at you?

Tell me about a time when you cared for a senior. What part of the experience was most difficult and what was most meaningful to you?

Employee

How do you like to be rewarded and recognized?

What are the top two or three factors that make a job fulfilling for you?

If I talked to your past employers, what is one strength they would share about you? One weakness?

Tell me about a time when you made a mistake or failed at a past job. How did you handle it?

What is the biggest thing you’ve learned from your past jobs?

Why did you leave your last job?

Personality

What made you want to be a caregiver?

What do you like most about being a caregiver?

Tell me about your favorite past job and what made it so rewarding.

What is your proudest achievement from a past job?

What aspects of a job do you find most likely to wear you down or discourage you?

What do you do to motivate yourself?

Tell me about some personal goals or work-related goals you have and what you are doing to accomplish them.

What makes you most excited about working with seniors.

What’s the most interesting thing about you that we don’t know from your resume?

What personal values are most important to you?

These questions should give you a good sense of what the caregiver is like and if they would be a good fit for your loved one. Pick a few questions from each category based on you and your loved one’s needs.

Our care teams at Iora work closely with caregivers every day and know that with the right person, your loved one can thrive. We know how important it can be to find a wonderful caregiver and would like to support you in finding someone.